Chapter One: Main Island, Filming Preparation (1)

 

Wednesday, October 16, 2019, 8:10 A.M.

 

 

When Yuki made up his mind to take revenge, he gave himself three rules:

Rule One: No matter what, you must act alone.

Rule Two: Don't involve anyone other than the objects of your revenge.

Rule Three: If you fail, fail with dignity. Confess your crimes without complaint.

None of the rules were to his advantage. They only restricted his movements.

But if he didn't follow them, he feared he would lose control of himself. Even if it was for the sake of revenge, even if his targets were truly evil, he simply couldn't allow himself to hurt someone who wasn't involved. ...He didn't want to become an indiscriminate killer.

Once the boat was moored to the port of Kakuriyo Island's main island, Yuki began to bring the filming equipment ashore.

The rest of the staff had already disembarked, but he and Mikumo were the only ones who looked well enough to work. He asked Mikumo to look after them, and Yuki and the captain carried everything off the boat, including what they'd need that night.

On the concrete port, the three sickest people were still lying down and groaning. The remaining four, though well enough to stand, didn't appear to have the energy to move.

“What's with this island? Even the land is rocking...”

This was muttered by Kikyo, the producer and manager of the whole voyage.

He sat cross-legged on the concrete, his face pale. He was the only employee of JTV among the staff. He usually wore suits, but today he was dressed for the area, wearing a white windbreaker and beige cotton pants.

He would be turning 46 the following December... if Yuki's plan didn't work. If it did, Kikyo wouldn't live to see his next birthday.

Yuki smiled at his target.

“Looking out at the waves is probably messing with your brain. You might feel better if you face the island.” 

Normally, Kikyo would have replied with some sarcastic remark, but he didn't have it in him and obediently turned over, closing his eyes.

Then, another voice came from behind.

“How? I don't understand...” 

Yuki turned around to see Unno, his direct superior, slumped over. Unno had declared upfront that he couldn't swim, so even the sound of waves frightened him. His face was pale.

“...How are you fine with this, Ryuuzen?” 

“Guess it's just my constitution.” 

“Why don't you check yourself into a hospital when you get back? Your vestibular system and brain are both rotten.”

“Right, right.” 

That sort of verbal abuse was commonplace at J. Production.

However, Yuki was planning to bid Unno farewell soon, so it didn't bother him. He, too, was a target of revenge, and by his plan, this would be the first victim.

Unno was an employee of J. Production, a subsidiary of JTV, who had been seconded to the parent company to film locations and produce programming. Unno was also dressed lightly, wearing two layers of brightly colored T-shirts and jeans. Although he often spoke in a childish manner, he was in his mid-thirties and was considered a veteran director.

Incidentally, there was hardly anyone around Yuki who used “industry lingo” with any regularity. In Japanese film and television, it's common to nickname people and things by inverting their syllables, but Yuki himself had never once referred to a nee-chan as a “channee”, called Ginza “zagin”, or named Roppongi as “giropon”.

All they ever used were practical industry terminology like “call time” (the time you're required to be present and ready to work), “pick-up” (reshooting only part of a scene), or “company move” (when the entire film crew and all their equipment move locations).

Suddenly, there was a gagging sound. As he headed back towards the pier, he saw a young man in an orange T-shirt and khaki-colored pants, crawling on all fours towards the sea. This was Shigaraki, the youngest member of the staff.

He was, comparatively, one of the less sick people on the boat, but as soon as he'd disembarked, it came back with a vengeance. Mikumo was by his side, looking at him worriedly.

Shigaraki was taking a leave of absence to work part-time at J. Production. His hobby was solo camping, so he'd been placed in charge of preparing the food for the location shoot.

 Shigaraki spoke to Yuki in a rough voice.

“Uuugh... I'm sorry...” 

“Don't worry about it. Just rest for now.” 

As the loading and unloading was almost finished, the loud sound of a dog barking came from the stern. The sound gradually grew closer... The captain was holding a dog carrier, looking troubled.

“It's no good. Tara won't let me feed him. He won't even bite down if I put the food in his mouth. He doesn't trust me at all.” 

The captain was barely audible over the ceaseless barking. Yuki gave a wry smile as he took the carrier.

“Guess he's the sort of dog who can't get attached to anyone other than his owner. Nothing we can do.” 

“Tara” was the dog's nickname, so his full name was probably either “Tarantino” or “Talatashar”. 

The windows and entrance of the soft carrier bag were made of black mesh, making it a bit difficult to see inside. When Yuki put his face right up against the bag, he saw a white Pomeranian, growling at him with a horrible expression.

That was a breed of dog that was supposed to be friendly and get attached easily, but it seemed this one was an exception.

Fortunately, Tara wasn't seasick, and the inside of the carrier was clean. Maybe the vet had prescribed him anti-seasickness medicine before his voyage. Yuki, worried he may have been dehydrated, tried to give him some water, but Tara just barked and barked and didn't even let him get close.

Figuring it would probably be better not to provoke him anymore, he brought the carrier ashore and placed it next to the equipment. When Yuki left the bag, it immediately grew silent. ...So that's how it is, he thought.

It was 8:45 A.M. Yuki smiled to himself as he watched the ship, having unloaded all its cargo, depart.

The next ship would arrive in two days, on October 18th, at around 2:00 P.M. 

Until then, Kakuriyo Island would be completely isolated from the outside world. Their smartphones were all out of signal range, and he had already sabotaged the satellite phone. And even in the unlikely event that the ship they were to be picked up on had trouble, JTV and J. Production would know where they were. An alternative rescue vessel would be sent immediately.

There was minimal risk that those unrelated to his revenge would be stranded for any longer than planned. The rules of revenge he had set himself would be followed.

Incidentally, there was a reason their stay was scheduled for three days and two nights, abnormally long for a location shoot. It was because Kikyo was planning to kill two birds with one stone.

As Yuki continued silently organizing the luggage he had unloaded on the port, Motegi arrived.

“Mr. Ryuuzen... Shouldn't we organize where we'll be staying beforehand?” 

“I'll get on that right away.” 

As he answered, Yuki looked at the young professor, who had a pretentious way of speaking that was kind of annoying.

The second bird to be stoned was related to Motegi.

Yuki hadn't known this until he looked it up, but Kakuriyo Island was famous for being home to a large variety of plants and insects. Just recently, news had broken that a new species of fern and a new species of rhinoceros beetle had been discovered there.

For that reason, Motegi, a professor at S. University who researched subtropical ecosystems, had been invited to act as advisor for the program.

He had been Unno's senior in high school, and after Unno had brought him on as a guest on another program about a year ago, he had become quite famous, appearing on one station's informational program after another. ...His presence was essential if they wanted to increase their viewership.

Kikyo had promised he could devote all his free time to research, and in return, they had exclusive rights to broadcast the discovery of any new species on their program.

Perhaps because he did fieldwork on a regular basis, Motegi looked comfortable in the beige explorer's outfit.

However, as he'd warned them... he was extremely sensitive to boats and, apparently, had a constitution that made motion sickness medicine ineffective. But, having been on them so many times before, he recovered quickly, and had already taken a paperback book from his bag and started reading. If his reputation could be trusted, it would be a mystery novel.

Yuki had a hard time keeping a straight face at the sight.

In fiction, criminals tended to try to avoid suspicion by creating locked rooms or fabricating alibis. In mystery novels the story usually ended with the criminal's defeat, so that was fine, but in reality, the more complex the plan, the higher chance there would be a mistake.

Fictional crimes, from a culprit's point of view, were often useless in real life. Yuki had quickly decided that crimes patterned on old legends or nursery rhymes and serial killings in villas were completely out of the question.

And so, he was instead aiming for a “practical crime”.

No complicated schemes, and the police wouldn't even realize a crime had been committed... that was his ideal outcome. However, he was planning to kill three people in a row, so he knew that keeping anyone from suspecting foul play would be difficult.

But no matter how hard he tried to commit the perfect crime, he would be powerless if he encountered a great detective who could deduce the truth from even the smallest details. That said, detectives like that probably didn't exist. Yuki wasn't worried, at least.

The bigger problem was that if someone died on an isolated island in the middle of the ocean, there would be a panic. Unpredictability was a problem for a criminal.

To prevent that outcome, Motegi, who loved mysteries... would be made to play the role of the great detective, who would reveal a false truth prepared by Yuki. Given his personality, given the proper provocation, he could be excited and made to start solving mysteries.

Leaving the professor, Yuki decided to go to the former community center, which he had decided during the location scouting would be where they'd stay.

“Location scouting” refers to the preliminary inspection of a location performed before any filming. Since Unno had been away on an overseas location shoot and only returned a week ago, Yuki had been placed in charge this time. 

That was lucky. It gave him, the criminal, time to check out the scene where he'd commit the crime in advance, which was a blessing.

It had been ten days since he'd visited the island for location scouting.

Then, he and his guide had gone around the island, looking for good shooting spots, as well as the former community center where they'd be staying.

According to the T. Village office, a research team from W. University had also stayed at the old community center about three weeks prior. Yuki had gone through all the proper procedures and borrowed a key to the building from the village office.

Yuki turned around and looked at the three who were severely seasick. They seemed unable to do anything but turn over in their sleep, and they had jackets and towels over their faces to block the sun. One of them was a target of his revenge. ...However, it would be difficult to see his condition like this.

He decided to go to the old community center first, and began walking towards the road leading away from the port.

Soon, he came across a small stone monument. On top of it was a red stink bug sporting a white X pattern. When he'd first come on the location scout, Yuki had thought it was a guide of some sort, but it wasn't.

The following words were carved on the stone monument, weathered by the sea breeze:

“T-- -o-- os----i--- gol--n ----les. -- the-- --ar-- dwel- --e ---th” 

Parts of the inscription were damaged beyond legibility, but it seemed there had once been someone on Kakuriyo Island who wrote waka poetry.

After about 100 meters of walking, Yuki arrived in front of the building.

His radio controlled watch showed that it was just after 9:00. The road up here was a bit rough, but from what he'd seen during location scouting, he knew there wouldn't be any serious problems with transporting their things up here.

Suddenly, he heard the patter of footsteps. Startled, he turned around and saw Mikumo walking quickly towards him.

“Is there anything I can help with?” 

He would have preferred some time alone, but there was nothing he could do about that now... Yuki sighed to himself, then spoke.

“There isn't much to do, I can handle it on my own. You can check out the place where you’ll be staying, if you like.” 

The former community center was a one story building that had been completed the same year the Beast of Kakuriyo Island incident took place. As the name suggested, the islanders had used it for events.

The building was sturdily constructed, with shutters on the doors and windows, and it was managed, cleaned, and maintained by the village office... Somehow, it had endured 45 years in a harsh environment.

Yuki picked a key from the set he had borrowed from the village office, unlocked the entrance shutter, and pushed it up. Inside was another door. Mikumo blinked at the sight.

“This door is as sturdy as a vault.” 

Made from a thick metal plate, it didn't belong on a community center, and gave off a stern, hostile atmosphere.

Yuki found the key to the front door from the set and nodded.

“I thought the same thing during the location scouting.” 

“Maybe it's for typhoons. This island is like Okinawa; it must have much stronger winds than the mainland.” 

“If it's just storm protection, then those heavy shutters are enough. Moreover, this door even has a huge bolt on the inside, see?” 

When Yuki opened the door and showed her the thick steel bolt, Mikumo looked unhappy for some reason. Then, her voice suddenly became teasing.

“Mr. Ryuuzen, you're the sort of person who stops working if something bothers you, aren't you?”

“I won't deny it, but this bolt really is strange. It'd only be useful if there was some sort of siege. Even if we say it was built during wartime, though...”

“Come on! If you keep standing here talking, the whole day will pass you by.” 

Mikumo quickly entered the dimly lit building, leaving Yuki with no choice but to follow.

The two of them silently went around and opened all the window shutters. Windows with both shutters and lattices are rare, but every single window in the room also had thin crisscrossing bars attached... perhaps they were custom made.

The multipurpose area just inside the door was about 40 tatami mats, or roughly 65 square meters, in size. The floor was made of wood that was a bit rough with age. Judging from what they could see in the light streaming through the window, there wasn't much dust, and it seemed there would be no problem with them staying there.

“Wow, it's surprisingly spacious.” 

Mikumo saw a door with white frosted glass in the back of the multipurpose area and headed towards it. Yuki, having already scouted the area, knew that beyond it lay a hallway, with two small rooms on the right and a waiting room and a restroom on the left.

When he followed her into the hallway, Mikumo was peering interestedly into the small rooms. Yuki opened the two rooms' window shutters.

There was nothing in the front room, but stacked in the one in the back were four cardboard boxes labeled “T. Village Office”. The boxes were full of blankets, spring water, instant rice, and other non-perishable foods. He hadn't heard anything about them from the village office, but they were probably emergency supplies.

“By the way, we'll all have to sleep in sleeping bags. We also brought freestanding tents, so we'll assign those as private areas for changing clothes and so on.” 

When she heard Yuki's explanation, Mikumo gave a nostalgic smile.

“It's been a long time since I last slept in a sleeping bag.” 

Considering how often it had been used, the building was pretty well maintained. The research team from W. University that had used it last had cleaned up after themselves before they left, leaving not even a single speck of trash in the hall or either of the small rooms.

Returning to the hallway, Yuki pointed at the back door.

“Look, see? There's even a bolt on the back door.” 

This bolt was also made of thick steel and had a dull sheen to it. The door itself was thick as a safe's.

Mikumo made a face that said “He's talking about this again” and went straight back to the multipurpose area without checking the waiting room or restroom. Yuki, who had once again been abandoned, went to open the restroom's shutters.

The restroom was simple, with just two private stalls. It was gender neutral. The village office had told them that “use of the restroom is strictly prohibited.” It only had old fashioned pit toilets, and apparently, cleaning them after use was too much of a pain. In the corner was the corpse of a spider, about 15 cm in size with long legs. It may have starved to death after being trapped in the building.

Finally, he opened the shutters in the waiting room and on the back door.

As Yuki tried to undo the bolt on the back door, he realized it was heavier than it looked. He needed both hands to move it.

Apart from the bolt, however, the door was normal. Both the front and back doors could be locked from the inside using a thumb turn, or from the outside with a key. Of course, the keys were included in the set Yuki had borrowed from the village office.

Just to make sure no mice got inside and started nibbling on their instant rice, Yuki turned the thumb turn to lock the back door, and, to be doubly safe, also re-set the bolt. Better to leave it locked now than forget to lock it later.

Yuki grew suspicious when he saw that the waiting room windows also had bars installed. Every window in this building had bars. Not just bars, but narrowly spaced, crisscrossing bars.

There was no need for such extreme security measures on a remote island, so why was it made like this? ...Thinking about that, he returned to the multipurpose area, where Mikumo was waiting for him, looking bored.

By the time the two of them had returned to port, the three worst seasickness patients had recovered enough to sit upright and talk.

Shigaraki was busily running around, making them wonder what was going on, but it turned out that Kikyo had just said “I'm hungry, go get me something to eat”, prompting him to rush off and get a quick snack. Thinking back, Yuki and the others hadn't eaten since about four that morning, so it was only natural that they'd start to feel hungry once the seasickness wore off.

A meal of sweet buns and bottled coffee was handed out, and everyone sat down in various places around the port and stuffed the buns into their mouths.

Yuki finished his meal quickly, but Koga, who was among those hit worst by the seasickness, didn't look fit to keep down even bread.

He fanned his face while he spoke.

“I was looking forward to this trip when I heard we were going to a heavenly southern island paradise. But I got so seasick I almost died and went to the actual heaven.” 

Hearing that, Yuki went cold. ...You aren't going to heaven, he thought. Koga was also a target of his revenge. 

Koga was the president of Koga Production, the talent agency to which Mikumo belonged, and today, he was wearing a light blue polo shirt and navy cotton pants.

The Pomeranian munching snacks in his lap was docile. It was hard to believe that was the same dog who had been barking up a storm at Yuki and the captain moments ago. Seeing him out and about, he looked a bit large for his breed, but he was still decisively a small dog.

Suddenly, Koga began to pet the dog. The dog licked his face in return.

“Good thing my Tara doesn't get seasick, eh? Ihihi, that tickles!” 

Hearing him babytalk at his dog was more than Yuki could stand. He turned towards the pile of luggage before anyone could see the look on his face. ...Even for someone like him, seeing Koga, Kikyo, and Unno, the roots of all evil, chatting away without a care was too much.

There were other people gathered around the luggage pile.

The two, both looking stoic, took out and checked pieces of equipment one after another. Yuki noticed that one of them hadn't eaten his sweet bun and spoke up.

“Mr. Saijou, it's okay if you rest a bit longer.” 

Saijou, the tall man, turned to him and shook his head.

“I can't. I have to check if the rocking of the boat caused any problems with the camera.” 

Saijou was a cameraman under exclusive contract with J. Production.

Many of the men who'd come to the island stood around 170 cm tall... but among them was Saijou, who stood 185 cm tall and had a lanky build. The other exception was Yuki himself, standing 177 cm.

Saijou had said he was only bringing the bare minimum of filming equipment, but there was quite a lot in front of him. He repeatedly opened each piece, turned it on, and looked inside.

“Let's check the power supply, just in case. I've prepared a mobile battery here, but you brought the generator, right?” 

“Yes. We aren't planning to start filming until tonight, so feel free to use it when you need to charge.” 

Saying that, Yuki put a hand on the generator sitting among the pile of luggage.

It was a cube with sides of roughly 60 cm, and even empty of gasoline it weighed over 50 kg. It was heavy, but the model had four wheels for ease of transport, so that wouldn't pose a problem.

“Huh...? Aren't you being a bit hasty, Ms. Yanagawa?” 

Letting go of the generator, Yuki called out to the other cameraperson. As she shoved the final scraps of her bun into her mouth, she was already preparing to start filming.

“Ain't nothin' hasty about it.” 

Yanagawa replied in her Kansai dialect. Everyone in the industry knew her by reputation as someone tougher than a two-dollar steak.

She wouldn't complain about being sent to film even in foreign jungles overseas, and would wolf down local cuisine (meaning things like caterpillars) with gusto. Moreover, despite living like that, she had never once suffered from food poisoning.

She was wearing a T-shirt and jeans, as she always did, even in the middle of winter. She was over 160 cm tall and looked healthy, her work as a camerawoman keeping her in good shape.

Yuki had heard that, before she arrived in Kagoshima yesterday, she'd been asked by the AD of a news program to help out with coverage of the serial assaults on the homeless. Despite that, she didn't look the least bit tired.

“...See? The doc's already started.” 

She looked over to Motegi, who was collecting a sample of some sort on a slope near the port. Next to him was a half-eaten piece of pizza bread. Apparently someone had taken his food while he was distracted.

“Oh, you're right.” 

Muttering that to himself, Yuki dug through the pile of luggage and pulled out three medium-range transceivers. Their output was low enough that they didn't need a license to use, but they still got 2 km of range even in the suburbs.

He took one of them and returned to Unno, who was laughing alongside Koga.

“Sorry to interrupt, but it looks like Professor Motegi has already started.” 

Unno frowned when Yuki handed him the transceiver, but quickly gave up and accepted it.

They were separated into two groups, with the “Mikumo team”, Yuki and Hisashi, charged with the location shooting, while the “Motegi team”, Unno and Yanagawa, accompanied Motegi on his research.

Of course, Mikumo's investigation was the focal point of the show, and following Motegi on his fieldwork was expected to be a tough job. Despite that, Unno was placed in charge of the Motegi team. The reason was simply because the professor had said he wanted Unno.

Yuki didn't understand the relationship between the two who had once gone to the same high school, but it seemed the balance of power between them was such that Unno couldn't oppose Motegi.

Unno drank his coffee with an unwilling look on his face. Then he put the transceiver in his pocket.

“...From the looks of things, he isn't going to find anything big, is he?” 

“He's scooping up this sticky orange thing. Is that a slime mold?” 

“Ugh, at least pick something that'll look good on TV.”

Unno grumbled, but he called out to Yanagawa, who was already holding a camera, and headed towards Motegi. Yuki, whose face was smiling, placed a transceiver of his own into the pocket of his bag. 

The transceivers were so that the Mikumo team, the Motegi team, and the filming HQ could communicate.

The last one was for Kikyo, who was supposed to stand by at the former community center, which would serve as filming HQ, and oversee the entire shoot... in theory.

In actuality, Kikyo wasn't involved in the shoot at all. Originally, the producers and directors from the production company were supposed to be in charge of the actual filming, and Kikyo, a producer at a TV station, wasn't involved.

His skills didn't lie in filming, but in project coordination, leveraging his connections for casting, and getting project approval from sponsors and company executives. As a result, Kikyo generally sat back and rarely stepped outside the TV station.

Even Yuki, who'd been working with him for half a year, was surprised when he said he was going to the location shoot to the southern island.

Suspicious, he'd dug further and found that someone had told Kikyo and Koga that Kakuriyo Island was a perpetual summer paradise. The island's rarity, in that it was a place no one was allowed to visit without special permission, must have also played a part.

In other words, Kikyo and Koga were just using the location shoot to get a paid vacation.

It was true that Kakuriyo Island had beautiful, clear blue seas and sky. The ocean view in particular was among the most beautiful in Japan. However, the island had no beaches and no tourist infrastructure. Yuki wondered whether the two of them would actually be satisfied... Whatever the reason, it was lucky that the two of them had decided to visit the island. The fact that all of the targets of his revenge had gathered in the same place without needing to be manipulated made him want to call Kakuriyo Island a magnet for evil.

...There were sixteen hours until the first murder. Until then, he needed to make sure the location shoot progressed without anyone suspecting anything.

He turned to Shigaraki, who had just finished his second sweet bun.

“If you're feeling okay, let's move the bags.” 

The part-timer said “Right!” quite energetically, but his face was still pale. Perhaps noticing, Saijou spoke up as he returned his camera to his case.

“I'll help, too.” 

That was unusual for Saijou, who generally only worked as a cameraman, so Yuki and Shigaraki exchanged a look. Perhaps that embarrassed Saijou, as he elaborated.

“I caused a lot of trouble when I got seasick back on the boat. Maybe I'll feel better if I move around... and besides, we can't leave the bigwigs alone for too long, can we?” 

Looking in the direction he pointed, Kikyo and Koga were still talking, gesturing at the horizon. Kikyo was smoking a cigarette of his favorite brand, Six Stars. Judging from the occasional bursts of laughter, they weren't upset yet.

Yuki and Shigaraki decided to accept Saijou's kindness.

It would be wise to finish setting up before the bigwigs tired of the scenery.

 

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